The present invention relates to a process for producing sulfoalkyl-substituted hydroxylamines useful as an additive for a photographic processing solution.
Although sulfoalkyl-substituted hydroxylamines are useful as a preservative to be added to a color developer for photosensitive materials such as photographic sensitive materials, no process for their production is disclosed in the literature. It is thus desirable to develop a new technique of producing them on an industrial scale. In particular, the development of a process for easily synthesizing the sulfoalkyl-substituted hydroxylamines from readily available starting materials is eagerly desired.
The following three processes are possible for synthesizing hydroxylamines: (1) a process wherein an amine compound is oxidized, (2) a process wherein an N-oxide of a tertiary amine is thermally decomposed (diethylhydroxylamine is synthesized on a large scale by this process) and (3) a process wherein an unsubstituted hydroxylamine or monosubstituted hydroxylamine is alkylated to form a monosubstituted or disubstituted hydroxylamine.